The BUFVC Moving Image Gateway includes over 1,300 websites relating to video, multimedia and sound materials. These have been subdivided into over 40 subject areas. To suggest new entries or amendments, please contact us by email or telephone or visit the Gateway at http://bufvc.ac.uk/gateway/

Archives New Zealand audiovisual collection
This site provides information on New Zealand films and documentaries, with the bulk of the material coming from New Zealand’s National Film Unit (NFU), together with other films from government departments and the private sector. Over 150 items from the archives have been digitised, including a substantial selection of entire issues of the Pictorial Parade and Weekly Review newsreels which can be freely viewed via the site’s video page. In addition to the newsreels are a number of other films chosen for their cultural or historic interest, such as a film of Igor Stravinsky conducting the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in a performance of the Firebird Suite.

Biology Image Library
Collection of images, movies, illustrations and animations pertaining to biology and biomedicine. The site is aimed at lecturers, teachers, researchers and students. The thumbnail images and associated data can be viewed for free but full access – which allows users to download images and slide sets for use in lectures, view full size images, and see the movies – is via subscription.

History SPOT
A subsite of the Institute of Historical Research, at the University of London, this resource offers online training courses, History SPOT blog posts and over 450 podcasts and videos, covering history conferences, seminars, interviews, lectures and workshops. Searching can be done by period, geographical area and a diverse array of subjects ranging from Digital History, Historiography and Medicine to the Philosophy of History, Religious History and Science and Technology. The podcasts are free to listen to and many are offered under Creative Commons licence. Most of the online course are free but users need to register. The site also offers links to online conference proceedings, including the Novel Approaches site, which features podcasts and videos from a conference on the relationship between academic history and historical fiction. In the video below, novelist Hilary Mantel is in conversation with Professor David Loades Emeritus Professor from the University of Wales.

The Rural Media Company
Based in the West Midlands, this charity aims to enable rural and disadvantaged communities to participate in creative media activities and, in their own words, ‘create high quality film, photography, web, and print resources, that reflect diverse rural communities and issues, and challenge stereotypes and prejudice.’ The website provides access to many of their films (click here) as well as detailed information on their diverse activities aimed at engaging with young people and local communities. They also run media skills courses specifically aimed at the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities as part of a Big Lottery-funded scheme.

UNESCO Archives Multimedia
UNESCO are making an increasing amount of film and audio material available via their Multimedia pages. A broad range of content is available, beginning in 1945, when the organisation was founded, as documented in this film showing Ellen Wilkinson, then British Minister of Education, reading from UNESCO’s newly adopted constitution. Searching can be done across nine categories: Education; Public Health; Research; Peace & Dialogue; Culture & Traditions; Historic Places; Access to Knowledge; Communities; and UNESCO History. A wide range of material is available, from conference proceedings, interviews and lectures to recordings of performing arts events, documentaries on sites of historic or natural interest and films about UNESCO’s projects and initiatives. The material is all freely available to view. Some films are represented by extracts but registered users can request to see the whole film via the Video on Demand service.